Plasma cutting a "cymbal" (yes, the musical instrument)

[pdjcutandfab]

I have a customer who wants to bring me a "cymbal" (from a drum set) and wants some shapes cut out of it (I'm not sure why he wants the parts cut from it but thats his choice). My question is I'm not sure if this is something that can be plasma cut, I did some research online and from what I was able to read they can be made from different material and I'm not sure if I can do this for him? any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Pat @ PDJ Cutting and Fabricating

[WSS]

Is he looking to have some style added to the cymbal or is he just very fond of the cymbal and would like to have some keepsakes from it before committing it to the deep? The material type would be important if he wants to keep using it. It may change the sound too. Are they usually brass? If you have a good THC, it should be easy enough.

WSS

[pdjcutandfab]

Thanks for the quick response, from the information he has provided me so far he just wants some different shapes cut out of a cymbal. I assume they are brass, but i'm not sure. He is coming to my shop tomorrow and said he would bring one along so I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Pat

[BrianMick]

Seems to me that orange county choppers just did a show bike for a cymbal company and I think that they are made out of bronze........I have no clue how that would cut
Brian

[Shovelrider78]

If he intends on using the cymbol for anything other than decoration, please be advised it is a bad idea. I am a drummer as well as a plasma cam owner. if you add that heat to the cymbols they will crack or worse yet shatter. I had a guy in town that welds bronze weld a cymbol for me and it litereally shattered into 9 pieces the first time i hit it. just my two cents.

[mdwalker]

You can cut about any metal with a plasma. Now the quality of cut is a different story. If somebody brought a cymbal to me to cut I would give them a price, explain that there is no guarantees on the quality due to the type of metal and that attempting to cut it may destroy it and let them make the decision on whether or not they wanted me to try it. If possible I would ask for one to do test cuts on.

Danny

[DARRYL21270]

Seems to me that orange county choppers just did a show bike for a cymbal company and I think that they are made out of bronze........I have no clue how that would cut
Brian

Just caught that episode myself and the first piece they made got destroyed from heating it too long. It shattered into a million pieces when they cooled it in a bucket of water. Why not offer to make a cymbal from steel instead and use a bronze patina. You would ruin the sound once you cut it so it wouldn't be usable, so why not offer him the next best thing.

[plasmajoe]

Bronze cutting is very simple to do, follow the guidelines of Aluminium cutting with your plasma pak and increase your speed by 5 to 8% you should have no problem at all. I do lot's of cuttting of brass(polished) and bronze(unfinished/raw), and after you cut it out it is so easy to clean and polish to a mirror finish. Good luck on cutting the cymbal I have cut a few in my days, hope your system has a torch automatic hieght control on it you will need that to cut it out the shape you wish to get. Word of caution, stay about a minimum 1/2" away from the center of it, that is the location where the cymbal has the most potential of shattering. And yes keep it cool as you cut, I use a water table that I submerge the whole peice, but before I had that I used to use a garden hose with a nozzle set on mist with cold water running on it contuniuously while cutting.

Enjoy and have fun.

Plasma Joe